An intense area of low pressure could bring more than 150 millimetres of rain to parts of New Brunswick over the next few days.
Environment Canada has issued a rainfall warning for much of the province, including Saint John, the Kennebecasis Valley, St. Stephen and Fredericton.
The national weather agency said rain ahead of a slow-moving system will move into the region on Monday evening and become heavy at times.
“Heavy rain bands will continue to move over the province over the next couple of days, before easing off on Wednesday afternoon or early evening,” said the statement.
Rainfall amounts are expected to be heaviest in the southwestern portion of the province. Amounts of 100 to 130 millimetres are likely but they could exceed 150 millimetres.
“This much rain is more than one months’ worth of rain for most areas,” said Spencer Clements, a meteorologist with Environment Canada.
Clements said rainfall amounts of this magnitude have the potential to cause road washouts and localized flooding in low-lying areas.
“The last significant rainfall event of this magnitude that I can remember, we did have significant road washouts,” he said. “There was, about 10 years ago, a pretty bad washout in Stanley. That was with around 150 to 200 mm of rain.”
Central New Brunswick, areas of the Fundy Region east of the Saint John River, and the Kennebecasis Valley will see 70 to 100 millimetres, with amounts possibly exceeding 120 millimetres for some.
Eastern areas of New Brunswick, including the Moncton region, are under a special weather statement. Environment Canada said total rainfall amounts could exceed 50 millimetres in those areas.
According to Clements, it is not unusual to get a lot of rain at the end of November.
“A lot of areas in the Maritimes, especially in southern New Brunswick, the rainiest month of the year would be November. It’s the beginning of our transition into winter. Some storms do have snow, but it is the beginning of our stormier season.”
New Brunswickers are encouraged to monitor alerts and forecasts by Environment Canada for the latest updates.
A long episode of heavy rain is expected for parts of New Brunswick. https://t.co/R72XRAxo7g #nbstorm pic.twitter.com/zrQqibadLG
— ECCC Weather New Brunswick (@ECCCWeatherNB) November 30, 2020
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